April 15, 2011

spring fevers

Spring, as usual, has me swooning over the beautiful flowers blooming everywhere. Our backyard cherry is now in full bloom, and the other day I took a little photo walk around the neighborhood.

But it's not just the flowers that have me in a fever... I've been working at fever pitch getting out the shipments for the sock clubs - which hasn't left me much time for blogging or knitting - until now! I finally finished off the shipping and today was able to go out for some much needed social time with my peeps at the Thursday knitting group, and I was able to put in some time on my new Eiki!

I know this color is not for everyone, but it just makes my little heart go pitter pat. I can't wait to get to the beads! At least I'm in the lace portion now.

And speaking of Eiki, the grand total raised for Japan is now at $4812. All profits continue to be donated to relief in Japan through the end of April. It's such a fun, quick knit, it's kind of like eating potato chips... you can't stop at just one! Check out all the pretty Eiki's on Ravelry...

For those of you who have tried my patterns, you know I love me some charts! But not everyone is experienced with charts, and for those of you who aren't as proficient with reading charts, there's a new book out by J.C. Briar - Charts Made Simple: understanding knitting charts visually . JC is a friend of mine who lives nearby in Corvallis, and I was thrilled when her book came out a few months ago.

This book is simple to understand, yet thorough and comprehensive. JC is a first class teacher and she brings her analytical skills at breaking down a concept into friendly, digestible bits. The book covers all kinds of charts and how to read them, and if you have any questions or qualms about reading charts, this book will clear things up in a jiffy. I highly recommend it.

Finally, I am all in a dither over some new yarn I got recently. This is Shady Oaks Shetland Wool from Shady Oaks Shetlands in Creswell (right outside of Eugene). I wish the monitor had feel-o-vision, because this is some of the loftiest, softest, sproingy shetland! It smells faintly of lanolin and love, and each color has a picture of the sheep that it came from. I love knowing who my yarn came from! I got some of each color and I'm thinking a colorwork project using all the colors might be nice. Knowing it's a local product also makes me happy. Perhaps you have a local farm with yarn near you!